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Green Is Golden At Environmental Expo In Pasco

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2009

DADE CITY - Paul and Wanda Herrmann walked away from the Pasco County Fairgrounds with smiles on their faces and three hefty bags of compost.

Compost – the black gold of gardening – was one of the items on offer today at the Green Solutions Expo, which aimed to update people on ways to save energy, conserve water and reduce pollution in their homes and on their property.

Vendor Patrick Kolen was offering demonstrations of solar power and a waterless composting toilet.

The expo was sponsored by Pasco County, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the University of Florida Extension Service.

"I was impressed with the number of people who were engaged in the green industry," Paul Herrmann said of the range of vendors who filled an exhibit hall at the fairgrounds.

Organizers said about 600 people attended. Many walked away with pencil-thick cypress saplings, bags of compost and free compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Jeff and Mary Kirschner brought their two sons to the expo. The family left with two amaryllis bulbs and a box of hydroponically grown strawberries.

"We wanted to learn to do a rain barrel for our house and to learn what our carbon footprint is," Jeff Kirschner said.

The Herrmanns, who own a landscape nursery in San Antonio, collected their portion of the enormous pile of composted plant material donated by Angelo's Recycling.

The compost will come in handy at home, Paul Herrmann said. His grandson wants to plant tomatoes.

"He's only 7, and I want to keep him nurtured," he said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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